"She tells me to give you a tablespoonful of orange-flower extract."
"What for?" I exclaimed in surprise.
"She thinks that you also must have sustained a shock," explained Doña Cristina, laughing. "Mamma uses that remedy a great deal, and makes us all take it too. Just tell her that you are going to take it, and it will please her immensely."
Before I could recover from my astonishment I did as Doña Cristina requested, and was immediately rewarded with a murmur of approval.
"I have just given it to him, mamma," she announced, darting a mischievous glance at me. "Now you may feel at ease!"
"Many thanks, señora," I called out. "I believe it will do me good, for I was feeling a bit nervous."
Doña Cristina pressed my hand and struggled to keep from laughing. She said in a low voice:
"Bravo! You are on the way to become a consummate actor."
The strange and unintelligible sounds renewed themselves.
"She asks if you have telegraphed to your wife, and advises you not to do so, as it might frighten her."